wipe out

Thanksgiving morning was clear and chilly so we did wait for it to warm up a bit before heading out on our hike.  We kept in mind the hordes of people from a prior T'giving attempt on Arches NP and drove right past the park entrance (big line of cars) and up to the main (upper) Navajo Rocks trailhead.  There were more vehicles/MTBers there than I expected - does nobody go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving anymore? 

Pretty little wash

We weren't doing the Rocky Tops loop this time, however but heading out on the jeep road that follows the cliff wall towards the Monitor and Merrimac buttes, something that I've been wanting to check out for some time.  It's no good for hiking in the summer as there is no shade and no water; and since it's a 4x4 road, it can be pretty busy in the spring and fall.  In the winter, however (and this counts as winter, I've decided), we had it all to ourselves.  Several times we thought we heard engines coming our way but it just turned out to be echoes bouncing of the red rock from miles away.

Art shot

The walking is easy: slickrock and sand, and this time of year the sand isn't too deep or loose.  We crossed several washes, heading gradually downhill (downhill the whole way out, by the way) towards the 4x4 feature called Wipe Out Hill.  This spot clearly gets a lot of action: there were lots of fences to keep the various vehicles on the trails where they belong.  We climbed up the hill, coming out right underneath the Merrimac Butte, then started our return trip just as five or six side-by-sides crested the ridge.

Feature under the butte

We found a different jeep road for the walk back, this one a straight shot across the desert meadow.  As we got back to the slickrock shelves, we started to see more folks, including lots of MTBers and a woman walking three dogs, one of them an Underdog foster puppy on her last day before her adoption.  (The puppy was very interested in Milton; Milton wasn't interested at all.)  Back at the parking lot we had sandwiches and beers while we watched the shenanigans - it seemed like half the state of Colorado was recreating in Moab this weekend, taking advantage of the nice weather.

You can't tell how steep this was

The rest of Thanksgiving was just as chill.  We made shepherd's pie for dinner, chasing it with chocolate chip cookies (H doesn't like pie and while I do, I certainly don't need to eat a whole one myself) and cheersing with sparkling rosé.  We attempted a firepit once the sun went down but it was brief on account of cold - the whole day ranged from 38-44 F - and we were happy enough to settle inside with our books for the night.

Oh, hey, a dirt road